Put season tickets up £20

Charge £20 on the gate and the club doesn't lose any money.

Rough figures, so bear with me.

1,000 pay-on-the-day adults @ £27 will generate £27,000. Over 23 games, that's £621,000. 1,000 pay-on-the-day adults @ £20 will generate £20,000. Over 23 games, that's £460,000. A short fall of £161,000.

8,000 season ticket holders paying an extra £20 for the season generates £160,000, so that's the short fall covered.

It's more than covered really. £27 is the most you can pay. That's the price for tickets in the East and West Stand upper. It's £26 in the lower tiers and £25 in The Ponty (South Stand my arse). You also get a £2 reduction if you buy your tickets in advance. If we start doing well, would more lapsed supporters be tempted back @ £20 rather than £27? I can't prove it, but I suspect so.

None of the above takes in to account the away support. I believe that football clubs have to charge away supporters the same price as a comparable stand in the home areas of the ground. That would be The Ponty End. Or stick away supporters in the north end of the West Stand and make that the area that's comparable. Personally, I'd just charge away supporters £20, we get so few coming to most games it would be covered by the season ticket price increase, but if the club don't want to charge away supporters a fair price and continue to get as much out of them as possible then the pay-on-the-gate price of £20 would just apply to home stands that are not comparable (everywhere but The Ponty or The West Stand, depending on where we house the away support).

By pay-on-the-gate, I mean that. You walk up to the turnstile, hand over a £20 note and you gain entry. That's for everyone. You don't have to buy on line or in advance, no funny handshakes or secret clubs, £20 on the door.

My season ticket cost £300. That's just £13 per game. Add £20 to that and it's £13.90 per game. That's still very good value and it still offers a significant saving on a £20 match ticket. There would still be a very obvious advantage to buying a season ticket.

Without the pay-on-the-gate support our club will die. I believe that anything over £20 severely limits the amount of people who will turn up and pay on the day. Dropping the price will make little difference while ever we're a mid-table club, but if we start doing well, more people will be tempted back if the price is seen as reasonable. Anything over £20 is generally viewed as unreasonable.

There's a natural wastage of season ticket holders. They move away, they lose interest, their lifestyle changes and they have family or work commitments, they get ill and they die. We are not attracting enough new or casual supporters to replace them and one of the major reasons for that is the price of match tickets.

Like the majority of season ticket holders I care more about the future of the club than I do about being entertained on any given Saturday. I'm more than prepared to pay an extra £20 per season, just 90p per game, so that we can charge those who may become season ticket holders themselves, and help secure the future of the club, a fair price to watch our football team.

Any objections?

 

None from me.

 

None in principle, although I still think the idea of handing over cash allows unscrupulous turnstile operators to pocket it, as they have done in the past. Agree with your calculations, interested to hear what objections people could raise.

 

I am but a simple man, I see no flaws in this logic. Twenty is plenty.

 

Spot on - I could live with that.

Currently buying online for me and Tom (to save a couple of quid), and picking and choosing games. £20 would see me visit most games. It would also probably seal the deal on me returning to the season ticket fold after many years away.

 

Not from me.

But it doesn't help with stopping anyone who wakes up Saturday morning and fancies coming to Oakwell to watch a game of football from just turning up.

I thought that was BFC's business model ?

 

Not being argumentative but is this speculation or fact?

 

It's a fact, although a few years ago in Rowing's days. I've seen it happen twice, once with my own money. I didn't challenge the guy who did it, but I reported it to Mr Rowing, who said he was aware of it. I've also heard other people who've seen it. I never got any feedback on whether anything was done.

 

It doesn't work.

The differential between buying in bulk and buying as and when is too low.

For for the East Stand an addition £20 takes it to £430. - £18.70 a game.

What with cocking about with times for the telly, cup match cancellations, international concellations, Tuesday night matches, - not to mention holidays weddings and other sh!te the wife insists I attend instead of going to the football I probably only attend 18 games anyway. Lets call it an average of a round 20 for most season ticket holders assuming I'm worst that most.

So now it's costing me £21.50 as a season ticket holder.

Or I can pay on the gate for £20.

Under your proposal I'm afraid I would not be buying a season ticket - I'm paying as and when I can make it. Which - when on a cold wet Tuesday in February when I get to junction 36 and I have the choice do I go on to the match or turn off and go home to a warm tea and the bossom of my family - I'm going home.

Maybe I'm not a real fan - but this is life for many of us. So in order to get people to buy a season ticket - the differential has to be sufficient to make it worthwhile - surely that's the whole point of a season ticket?

 

Simple Man
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Soas

 

Leave season tickets as they are and put prices down on matchday tickets.

North stand 'segregate' it and say this stands 27 quid however in a reprocrial deal we'll charge 20 quid if you do for the return visit.

Lets be right. Very few potg are from barnsley but away fans.

 

Wow.

 

£20 or ten bob and a blackis egg

Dunt mek a bit of difference if we churn out tippy tappy Carp!

Oakwell will be the Marie Celeste of League 1 !!!!!!!

 

Football in the UK is vastly overpriced.
Tomorrow I'll pay £22 to watch St. Johnstone v United. In a couple of weeks I'll pay £23 to watch Barnsley v Crewe. Neither game will sell out or arguably be a classic considering the quality of players on show.

Compare that to prices being charged in Germany in the Bundesliga. Bayern Muchen v Dortmund maybe £15.

 

How's that work. Surely the turnstyle records numbers going through. Or is this claiming everyone that went through was a concession ?

 

If your maths are right, I can't see any sensible argument against. I guess you have to use the highest ST cost though to calculate the per game average, rather than the lowest, or at least the average based on the number of ST holders we have.

 

Instead of PC funding a player next season why doesn't he set aside a similar amount to do something with the pricing? If it doesn't work it's covered by the funding.

I don't mind the £20 rise either tbh, £320 for mine is acceptable to me, but this forum can't speak for 8000 season ticket holders.

 

I still want to know where the **** the money is going anyway

 

^^^This

There has to be a differential to get the season tickets sold.

 

On the occasion it happened with my money, there were 2 of us and I paid for both. There was a tenner in my change, but as I passed through the turnstile I noticed he had taken another tenner out of his till and he put it in his back pocket. By that time I was through the turnstile and so was my partner. I could, and should, have challenged him but I didn't, which I regret now. I spoke with Don Rowing about it, who thanked me for letting him know and said they knew it went on, but (understandably) they couldn't discuss it with me.

I suspect the guy kept his foot on the turnstile release mechanism or whatever, to let 2 of us through at once. the other time I saw it there was also a couple involved, and others I've spoken to have also mentioned this. I doubt whether it would be possible with a single person for the reasons you state.